As director of the Penrose Cancer Center, Deborah Hood says she’s thrilled the state has created a program to provide unused cancer drugs to patients without health insurance.
But the cancer survivor has serious doubts that the new program will help anyone.
Passed in 2005, the Cancer Drug Repository Act offers a way for families and cancer survivors to donate unused medicines.
The problem is that the law, which takes effect July 30, is worded so it blocks donations of most cancer drugs, health-care providers say.
The act specifies that the only drugs acceptable are those in original, sealed packages – or that come in single-dose sealed packages.
Few chemotherapy drugs come that way, cancer-care providers say.
“There are only one or two chemotherapies that I can think of (that would qualify),” said Michael Forsyth, Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers pharmacy manager.
The state officials charged with implementing the new law agree.
In a May 8 letter, Dennis E. Ellis, executive director of the state health department, told legislators that “the actual language of the Act may have inadvertently thwarted your intent,” and that “very few, if any, cancer medications or medical devices would be eligible for the program under the current law.”
State Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, sponsor of the registry bill, said she intends to fix the law.
“We’ll work with the pharmacy board and the board of health and look at ways we could tweak it,” she said.
R.J. Ours, of Colorado’s American Cancer Society chapter, which helped push for the law, said lawmakers must guard the integrity of donated medications.
“When you’re talking about taking medicines back in from the general public, you want to be able to guarantee quality and efficacy of those drugs,” Ours said.
It is difficult to estimate how many uninsured cancer patients could use donated medications, Ours said.
About 16,000 people in Colorado will be diagnosed with cancer this year – not counting those who will find out their cancer has returned, Ours said.
According to the Colorado Health Institute, 700,000 of the state’s adults lack health insurance.
Hood sees many of them at the Penrose Cancer Center, in Colorado Springs.
“There are a lot of folks we see – they are all over Colorado – that are either uninsured or underinsured,” she said. “Some might have insurance but high deductibles.”
Cancer treatments can cost thousands of dollars a week. “There are cases where people have to make choices of ‘Do I take this treatment or do I buy groceries?”‘ Hood said.
Cheryl Volmert, a social worker with the University of Colorado Hospital, said that currently, many cancer drugs are just tossed out. “What’s happening now is people do bring them in. And what we do is graciously accept them and thank them, but then we have to destroy them.”
Staff writer Karen Augé can be reached at 303-820-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com.
